Given that data centers are rated depending on their reliability and performance; it is always a worthwhile investment to improve all contributing factors to these properties. Just think of how dependent your web-based business is, for example, on keeping the data center up-and-running with attributes like an uninterruptible power supply, business continuity protocols in place and fire suppression – to avoid the need for disaster recovery. The more down time you experience, then the more often information will be inaccessible and the less money you’ll make.

Ensuring Consistent Operation

There is a suite of tools available to help you maintain the operational capacity of your data center, or to take its functionality to even higher levels of performance once you implement them. Raised access flooring is one amendment that can reap dividends for any data center, given the many benefits it confers:

• Being a place of high technology with certain power requirements, the enhanced cooling provided by these floors (due to the raised portion allowing conditioned air to circulate fully throughout the room and between the racked servers) will go a long way to increasing the overall efficiency of the computers – particularly during peak hours of operation.
• They are much easier to upgrade or change than flooring that is laid-out in the conventional manner, since they are elevated and not secured with glue or paste to the ground. This facilitates future changes to the data center as a whole; reducing associated costs and expediting the process.
• If there’s one thing most data centers need, it’s more space for cabling. The extra room for the cables and circuits allows less clutter, and reduces the possibility of a conflagration. Not to mention the more modern, sophisticated look such floors give your data center.
• And of course, fire retardation. The raised flooring allows electrical conducting material to be more prevalent, reducing the instances of the electrical sparks that can occur with discontinuities. The discontinuity of the floor, itself, allows you to put more measures in place to apprehend and extinguish a fire that begins in one localized spot; keeping it from reaching others.

A data center is the backbone of a business, and it’s worth it to have all components in place and ready for upgrades. You’ll notice the performance in the tasks for which they’re responsible, once power density levels are sufficient (dependent on the needs of your IT infrastructure), and industry standards are satisfied. Raised access flooring helps you shore up some of these crucial requirements, allowing your data center to perform up to par – and beyond.

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Lauren Biddle is a writer who has contributed to hundreds of blogs and news sites. You can also follow him on twitter  @Biddle23 to see what else he has to say!